Abused Puppy from Tennessee Finds a New Home in San Francisco

For an abused puppy from Tennessee, social media proved to be the answer for a month-long search for a home.

The puppy, named Mika, had a tough start to life. At only three months old, she was stabbed in the face by her abuser and lost her left eye. She was rescued from the home where she was abused, but she was shuttled from foster home, to shelters, and back to foster homes across Tennessee. It was a humane society volunteer, Alexia Johannes, who realized that Mika’s best shot at finding a home might be across the country – in the City by the Bay.

“I think it’s a great place for a dog to live,” said Alexia, who had recently moved from San Francisco to Chattanooga, where she volunteers for the Humane Educational Society of Chattanooga. She’d had a trip planned back to San Francisco that week, so she posted on her old neighborhood’s Nextdoor website, sharing Mika’s story.

“Alexia shared that many dogs often stay in shelters for more than a year in Tennessee, so this was an opportunity to save a life – and the small San Francisco community agreed.”

“It was amazing how quickly people rallied for her,” she said.

Less than 24 hours later, Marina Krueger, a neighbor in San Francisco, signed adoption papers and dozens of people chipped in on a GoFundMe page to buy a plane ticket for another volunteer to help escort Mika on the plane.

Marina met Mika at San Francisco International Airport, fresh off of the plane ride from Chattanooga.

“As I saw them coming out of gate, I actually started crying,” she shared. “I got really choked up.”

As for Mika, she’s settled in well in San Francisco, and is loving her new backyard. Alexia is working with the SPCA in San Francisco to help her shelter in Tennessee, which takes care of hundreds of dogs at a time with very limited resources.

“It is amazing, but it doesn’t surprise me coming out of San Francisco,” she said. “I think there’s a lot of awareness here and really big hearts.”

If you would like to support the Humane Educational Society of Chattanooga help dogs like Mika, click here. To donate to the SPCA in San Francisco, click here.